The first challenge is the Visa. Bangkok can be an option despite the fact that they no longer issue visas to non-residents, I know of 3 boats that got their visas there but only with help of an agent and the fact that they organized a rally this year specifically to help with the administration side I believe.

Other options that I can confirm are embassy’s in Burma, Cambodia and Laos.

As to so-called expensive fees, don’t be put off, I can confirm paying only 2049 rupees ($30.55 US !). What they call port fees are calculated based on tonnage. My boat Unu mondo weighing in at 6T got away cheap, for bigger yachts maybe cheat a little if needed… One 50 footers weighing 43T I believe paid over $700 including agent fees.

As to the agent as having done it myself without an agent, I understand why 90% seem to do it with. It took us a record-breaking 6 days to check-in to Port Blair(with all the paperwork & copies ready in advance), arrived a Wednesday afternoon, Friday was a bank holiday, weekend, etc. We left Tuesday morning without the national park permit we planned to request, that would have been another day or two. So the Agent can help a lot!

Nobody cruising the Andamans really seems to know where exactly you can go and what the defined rules are, so that part can be worrying and always good to have the agent for that as he will have the latest info and will smooth things out on departure. Rules vary depending on who you ask: customs, immigration or forest department.

We were probably the last Sailing yacht this year, although a motor yacht from Thailand was still in the anchorage when we left, they endured a 15 official enquiry issued by the fisheries department that decided that you needed a permit to fish in the Andamans. We were told by port management to hide fishing equipment to not get in trouble too.

India, what an experience! Pristine islands, fish every day for lunch & dinner, deer, crocs and beautiful people. Wish we could have stayed longer. Hope all this helps.

Submitted May 2017

Whilst picturesque and a classic cruising ground for breaking up the long Indian Ocean passage, the Andaman Islands are also famous for unrelenting bureaucracy. This report from s/y Verve (Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45.2) from Port Lincoln, Australia, covers some useful details and recommendations from their time spent here in March/April 2016.

Paperwork

The amount of paperwork required to visit the Andaman Islands hasn’t changed – maybe just more copies of everything required. Don’t forget: get a boat stamp!

The Indian/British-induced bureaucracy is over the top and they don’t use computers, internet, or emails, so highly recommend using a Port Blair Agent to help advise of your arrival and to get through the red tape… unless you have time, patience and sense of humour.

We used Ashraf of Island Travels. He was an excellent agent to deal with, well liked by officials, and connected, which made the whole process easy (especially check out for departure – we didn’t have to see anyone except immigration who we met on the dock).  He will advise you what papers you need and to have lots of copies for the authorities.

His contact details are islandtravels@yahoo.com.  Phone: +91 9474 202 522

The most important document you will receive after the arrival procedure has been completed is your “Restricted Area Permit.” Make copies of it and take them ashore and whilst cruising to hand out freely to officials if asked. Keep the original in a safe place. .You will even need this document to get a phone sim, along with passport + visa copies.

Costs

We paid Ashraf US$200 for his services, but that will vary depending on a number of crew.

There are Port/Anchorage Fees and Park Fees (i.e., for South Cinque Island, if you go ashore) the final fee will be calculated at the end of your trip.

The fee is supposed to be based on the places you actually visit but are estimated calculated on your original itinerary using the gross tonnage of your boat as a multiplier. The less your boat weighs, the less you pay.

Our total for 28 days of anchorages cost around 4,000 rupees (US$62) + 2,500 rupees (US$38.90) for three persons going ashore on South Cinque (pronounced Sink). We anchored for two days but paid for only the day we went ashore. There are no obvious walking trails, but we got to use the fantastic beach.

Arriving in Port Blair

Use VHF Channel 16 to contact Port Authority as you approach for permission to enter the Port. They will ask you:

– Name of boat

– Captain’s name

– Homeport

– The nationality of registration all spelt phonetically (especially if you have Aussie accent)

– Last Port of Call, Departure time, Average Speed

– ETA to the entrance to the port

– How many persons on board and their nationality

Then a Navy boat with the machine gun pointed at you will approach and ask you most of the same questions. Beware of them getting too close as we had patrol boat T504 touch us.

We were then told to anchor opposite Chatham Island near a green buoy. The Coast Guard boat then approached us and asked all the same questions again. They don’t seem to communicate with each other.

Ashraf (agent) met us at the dock with the Customs guys and they all came on board to run through the paperwork. We had our paperwork well-organised and were armed with lots of copies of all info from previous cruisers plus extras that Ashraf advised us to supply (currency declaration, medical supplies list, personal property, etc).

Also, we arrived on the day before “Colours Day” a public Holiday which backed up onto Easter so were lucky to get check-in completed before five days of holidays stuck in Port Blair.

Satellite Phone and Communications

We only have an SSB/HF receiver so we borrowed a satellite from a friend (thanks Michael on SY Suzie Wong) to use for daily reporting into Port Blair Port Control. Our mobile phone with a local sim also helped to keep satellite call costs down. Also can contact local Port Control in Hut Bay and Havelock on VHF 16.

You will need to report in every day – morning and night – even though we ended up only reporting in once mostly in the evenings, which seemed okay. We kept a record of waypoints and time of call and time of anchorages, etc, but it was not needed.

No one even brought the subject up when we returned to depart from Port Blair so, in the end, it does not seem all that important.

If out of range with VHF, you can phone into Port Control Office on +91 3192 233 683

Be polite and patient they have as much trouble understanding us as we do them.

We needed to call Port Control on the dock when our VHF failed +91 (0)3192 233674 emergencies only.

Only the Inmarsat satellite network is allowed to be used in the Andamans. Of course, there is a form to fill out with customs for this. Iridium and Thuraya phones will be bonded. (i.e., placed in a plastic box and taped up with masking tape (which you supply) and photographed. This happened to the only other yacht we saw so they had no way of checking in each day.

An only 2G network is available and very difficult to connect to. We bought a local BSNL Sim card with internet package and found the phone took five days to start working and the internet was rarely available (mainly only around Havelock). Ashraf offered to lend us his spare SIM but it’s was a micro SIM and didn’t fit our iPhone 4.

Money

There are ATM machines around but our Agent (Ashraf) changed money at a better rate so save yourself the grief of finding a machine. ATM machines may not work and the banks are slow and busy. You need to declare currency you bring into the country, but again, no one checked us.

Port Blair

Dirty, dusty town with lots of rubbish, traffic and little shops everywhere. Some yachties use Vijay the taxi driver with air-conditioned car to get around but we used Baba and his Auto (Tuk Tuk) Phone +91 9933 298 669. Speaks okay English and knows all the places to go for supplies and can turn and park on a matchbox.

We ate dinner twice at the New Lighthouse restaurant as it had good food and cold beer upstairs.

Hut Bay, Little Andaman Island

A quaint little town with helpful Harbour Master and Policeman.

They let us anchor inside the seawall opposite the Police Boat which was an excellent, safe anchorage close to a beach. This is also where the local fishermen drop off their catch, so a good place to buy fresh fish if you don’t catch any.

Indira Bazaar is the little town where you can buy an assortment of fruit, veg and supplies including alcohol. Kingfisher Premium Beer is the “King of Goodtimes”

The local ‘hotels’ have cheap meals. We ate Masala Dosa at the Siva Hotel: 40 rupees (less than a dollar a meal).

We found out towards the end of our trip that the Senior School has internet available between 4-5pm Monday to Friday.

Rubbish and cow dung fill the streets.

Only one fuel station, which can run out of fuel at times.

Havelock Island

The Harbour Master here was excellent to deal with and through him, we met Topu (phone +91 9474 207 503). He speaks perfect English and runs a little tourism business with an air-conditioned van, so he took us to everywhere we needed to go. He let us decide what to pay him, so we decided a half day would be 500rp and whole day 1000rp.

This was the only island with rubbish bins.

Near the fruit and veg market is a modern looking internet café that also sells great gelato (coffee sucks) 315rp for 1 hour – expensive in comparison but a reasonable connection.

We ate at the ‘Something Different’ Restaurant at Beach No. 3. It is a multi-cuisine restaurant located on the beach. Very clean with excellent food including Indian cuisine.

Fishing

We had some massive hits on the way to Little Andaman, so be prepared and toughen up with heavy tackle. Use wire traces and strong hooks. We lost three lures and had two with backends bitten off.   Best fishing around the southern islands.

We ended up hooking a six-foot sailfish, landed a 7.5kg Mangrove Jack, GT, and two Barracuda. Plus some bottom fishing at anchorages. Fish markets have good fish at cheap prices.

Highlights

Surfing:

Little Andaman: Butlers with few crews from local backpacker accommodations. Plus the isolated West Coast.

Near Havelock Island: unnamed break.

(For surf spots please contact us vervesail@gmail.com and we can pass on what we found. There seems to be an endless supply of potential lefthanders. Access to swell and weather via satellite would be a must next trip and time trip around full and no moon tide cycles.)

Islands:

South Cinque Island: beautiful beach

Sisters Islands: snorkelling and amazing beach.

Inglis Island: secrets galore!

North Cinque Island: snorkelling, deer on the beach, crystal clear water.

Ingliss Island: secrets galore!

This information is based on our experience from our trip in March/April 2016. We are happy to supply copies of the required letters and documentation to anyone who is interested in sailing to the Andaman Islands.

David & Gloria Burns

s/y Verve

PS: They love talking about cricket.

Submitted May 2009

Sent by SV “Mata’irea” who cruised the Andaman Islands from March 11 to April 9, 2009.

We have just spent a month in the Andaman Islands. Our stay in these islands has been one of the highlights of our circumnavigation. Empty surf breaks, huge fish, all the lobster one could possibly eat, deserted islands, gorgeous beaches, healthy and varied coral, giant manta rays, fascinating indigenous tribes, friendly locals, delicious and cheap food, and a charming port of entry and departure – what more could a cruiser ask for? Our “Best Of” list for the Andamans includes:

Best Deserted Island: North Button

Best Coral: South Button

Best Aquatic Life: Twin Islands

Best Beach: South Bay, Rutland Island

Best Agent Who Isn’t An Agent: Ravi

A detailed write-up about and pictures from our 30-day visit to these islands is available here.

We were surprised to find these islands to be practically empty of cruising boats. We can only attribute that to the wealth of misinformation circulating among cruisers about the Andamans. The following is our attempt to clear up a few of the rumours and provide some suggestions for making your trip to the Andamans as hassle-free as possible.

Visa Application

Applying for an Indian visa through Emotion Travel in Phuket, Thailand requires the following:

(a) two 2 inch passport photos with a blue background per applicant

(b) a completed application in black pen

(c) a basic travel itinerary with vessel and crew details, and

(d) 4700 Baht per applicant.

The information on the Andaman Islands on Noonsite currently includes the following erroneous statement about the required Indian Visa: “The embassy MUST endorse BY HAND the visa stamp in the passport with the following words: “Visa also valid for a visit to permitted places in Andaman and Nicobar Islands for tourism only.” If this is not endorsed then they will not let you in.”

That is simply not true. For several years yachts have successfully visited the Andamans without this “Andaman Endorsement.”

Under no circumstances should you get the “Andaman Endorsement” offered by Emotion Travel in Phuket, Thailand. This will limit you to a 15 day stay at an additional cost of 1500 baht per visa. Just show up in the Andamans with your valid 6-month Indian visa and you will receive a 30-day Restricted Area Permit from the Immigration Officers upon arrival. If you show up with the 15 days Andaman Endorsement, Immigration cannot extend your visit to 30 days. We met three boats this season who was limited to 15 days by getting the Andaman Endorsement through Emotion Travel.

(Thank you for this update, we have amended what we say on noonsite).

The date of expiry stamped on your original Indian Visa is the date you must leave the Andamans. In other words, if you arrive with the date of expiry on your visa a week away, Immigration will only permit you to remain in the islands until that date (ie, one week), not 30 days from when you arrive. We saw this happen to another yacht while we were in the Andamans. So, arrive in the Andamans at least 30 days prior to the expiry date of your Indian Visa.

Arrival in the Andamans

The following published resources include thorough and accurate descriptions of what to expect of the clearance process:

– Andaman Sea Pilot (2007/2008 edition)

– Kate Hubert’s article, Cruising the Andamans (January/February 2007 issue of SEA Yachting), and

– Tui Tai’s cruising notes based on their 2007 and 2008 visits to these amazing islands (available on S/V Crystal Blues’s website http://www.svcrystalblues.blogspot.com/).

We will not reiterate the information contained in the above publications here. Below are just a few suggestions from us to make your clearance process as quick and painless as possible.

S/V Crystal Blues’ website contains links to sample request letters and documents necessary for inwards and outwards clearance. These forms are incredibly helpful. Preparing all the required paperwork ahead of time took some time and effort, but it made the clearance process go very smoothly.

During inward clearance, you will receive and countersign a Restricted Area Permit from Immigration that limits you to Little Andaman and islands adjacent to South and Middle Andaman Island. This precludes visiting outlying islands such as North Reef and the Table Islands as they are considered adjacent to North Andaman. If interested in visiting these Northern islands, you should question Immigration on this prior to signing the Restricted Area Permit as other departments (such as Forestry and the Harbor Master) will refer to this document as to the reason why North Reef (for example) is out of bounds.

Avoid the Forestry Department in Port Blair. You can have a great Andamans cruise without obtaining any special permits from the Forestry Department. Adding islands under Forestry control (such as Cinque and Interview) to your planned itinerary will add at least a day to your inward clearance process and cost you some $40 USD per night for a vessel plus two crew. Our advice would be to leave islands that are under Forestry’s jurisdiction off of your itinerary. We included Cinque and Interview on our itinerary and paid the required fees to Forestry for a permit. We did not find these islands to be any more impressive than other islands in the Andamans. If we visited the Andamans again, we would give these islands a pass and save ourselves the hassle of dealing with Forestry in Port Blair.

Cruising the Andamans

The anchorage waypoints in the Andaman Sea Pilot are not very accurate (some are just dead wrong). We found those in Kate Hubert’s article and Tui Tai’s cruising notes to be much more reliable.

Contrary to the statements in the 07/08 edition of the Andaman Sea Pilot, the power lines are most definitely in place across the Homfray Strait. With a mast height of 21 meters, we cleared them, but it looked pretty close. If planning to transit the Homfray Strait, we would recommend inquiring about the height of the lines with either the Harbor Master or Coast Guard.

Avoid Forestry on outlying islands. If you seek out the Forestry officials at their office on Havelock Island, they will likely ask you to pay additional fees to visit islands North of Havelock (such as Outram, Inglis, John Lawrence, Henry Lawrence, etc.), islands which, per the terms of the Restricted Area Permit that you will receive from Immigration, you shouldn’t have to obtain Forestry approval or pay fees to visit. If you do not go looking for them, Forestry most likely will not come to find you as they are not equipped with patrol boats except at the Cinque and Twin Islands.

Departing the Andamans

We had perfect weather for our March 11 to April 9, 2009, stay in the Andamans with light winds, settled conditions and very little rain. However, April 10th turned out to be too late to set out for Sri Lanka this year as we had strong Southwest winds set up against us as well as some extremely violent squalls (40-knot squalls with a baseline wind of 15 knots) in the Bay of Bengal. These conditions persisted for several days in the early part of our passage and eventually developed into a feeder band for Cyclone Bijli. If leaving the Andamans for points West we would recommend leaving during the tail end of the Northeast Monsoon or the early part of the transition to the Southwest Monsoon at the latest.

When your 30 days are up, that is it, you have to go. None of the standard reasons for extension (weather, engine problems, etc.) is permitted in the Andamans. For one boat that visited the Andamans this season, this meant scrambling late into the night to get extra impellers made for his malfunctioning main engine sea water pump. For us, that meant setting out into extremely squally and unfavourable weather that eventually turned into a cyclone on our way to Sri Lanka. If you are not going back to Thailand or Malaysia from the Andamans, keep this in mind. The Harbor Master and Customs will be sympathetic to your plight but Immigration (who are also the police) is unmovable.

Related content

India, Andaman Islands: Visiting Requirements

A visit to the Andaman Islands March 2014: Very special and worth the trouble